The smoke cleared after a few minutes. Is it still a problem?

Yes. Smoke entering the room at all means combustion gases entered the room, and carbon monoxide travels with them. Stop using the fireplace and get the flue swept and camera-inspected before you light another fire.

Could it just be a cold chimney?

A cold flue does draw badly until it warms up, and that is a real cause. But it is only one of several, and you cannot tell it apart from a blockage or a failing damper by looking up the firebox. An inspection separates the two.

Why does this happen so often in older Hempstead homes?

Much of Hempstead's housing predates 1960, and masonry chimneys serving older fireplaces and boilers are widespread here. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles and year-round coastal moisture wear on crowns, mortar and caps, and a flue that has absorbed moisture tends to draw poorly.

Do I need a permit for this work in Hempstead?

In New York, permits are issued locally by the municipal or county building department, not by a state agency. Routine sweeping and inspection generally do not require one, but relining a flue as part of an appliance installation or rebuilding masonry above the roofline usually does. Call your local building department before work begins.

Is a chimney sweep licensed in New York?

New York does not issue a statewide license for chimney sweeping, inspection or masonry repair; it is handled locally. Nassau County runs its own home improvement contractor licensing program, so check current requirements with the county consumer affairs or licensing office before work starts.

What is One Call Chimney, exactly?

We are a referral and scheduling service that arranges chimney work with independent sweeps and masons across all fifty states, including Hempstead. We are not the contractor and we do not perform the work ourselves. The technician inspects your chimney and gives you the price before anything begins.

Stop using the fireplace

Smoke in the room in Hempstead, NY

If you light a fire and the smoke rolls out into the room instead of up the chimney, the flue is not pulling. Something is in the way, or the air is not moving the right direction. It can be soot and creosote narrowing the flue, a damper that will not open all the way, a blocked or damaged cap, a nest or debris high up, or a smoke chamber that is rough and dirty. A cold flue also draws badly until it warms, and a tightly sealed house or a strong kitchen or bath extractor fan can beat the chimney for air and pull the smoke back at you.

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Hempstead sits about five miles inland from the South Shore bays, so salt-laden air and nor'easter winds reach the village and go to work on chimney caps and flashing. Winter here brings repeated freeze-thaw cycles that are hard on crowns, mortar joints and brick faces, and humid summers keep unused flues damp. Much of the housing stock predates 1960 and masonry chimneys serving older fireplaces and boilers are widespread, so an older flue that has absorbed moisture and lost some of its draw is a common reason smoke comes back into the room.

While you wait — please don't

Put the fire out and open a window. Smoke in the room means combustion gases in the room, and carbon monoxide comes with them.
Get outside and call 911 if anyone feels ill. Headache, dizziness or nausea around a smoking fireplace can mean carbon monoxide, and that is a 911 call, not a wait-and-see.
Stop using the fireplace until it has been inspected. If the flue is blocked or the liner is damaged, every fire you light pushes more gas into the house.
Do not just open the damper wider and try again. A second fire on a blocked or restricted flue repeats the same problem and fills the room again.
Do not push the smoke out with a fan. Extractor fans pull air out of a sealed house and can make the chimney draw backwards, which is sometimes the cause in the first place.

What the technician does

The flue gets sweptThe technician sweeps the flue to clear soot and creosote buildup that is narrowing the passage. A restricted flue is one of the most common reasons smoke backs up.
A camera goes upThe flue is camera-inspected end to end to find the blockage and check the liner condition. Ask to see the footage so you can see what they are seeing.
The damper is checked and sortedA damper that is seized, warped or only part-open chokes the draft. It gets freed, repaired or replaced depending on what is wrong with it.
Draft is tested and the cause namedThe technician tests the draft and identifies why the smoke is coming into the room rather than guessing at it. Ask for the reasoning in writing.
Cap and crown get looked atThe cap and crown are checked for damage, debris and anything nesting up there. Coastal wind and freeze-thaw take a toll on both.
Smoke chamber cleaned and pargedThe smoke chamber sits just above the firebox and shapes the smoke into the flue. Cleaning and parging it smooths the path and helps the chimney pull properly.

Why this happens in Hempstead, NY

Older Nassau County homes around Hempstead often still run oil or gas boilers vented into unlined masonry chimneys, and in New York generally, unlined or clay-tile masonry chimneys needing relining are very common. That matters here because a shared or aging flue that has taken on moisture does not draw the way it did when it was new. Wood-frame Colonials, Capes and Tudors make up much of the local housing, and plenty of them have had windows and insulation upgraded over the years, which tightens the house and gives the chimney less air to work with.

Mature street trees and frequent coastal storms mean downed-limb damage to chimney crowns is a recurring problem in this area. Tropical storms and hurricanes have hit hard here — Irene in 2011 and Sandy in 2012 — and winter wind-driven rain and snow keep testing flashing and caps. Demand around Hempstead spikes in early spring after winter freeze-thaw damage and again in late summer and fall as people prep for hurricane season and start up their heating. If your fireplace smoked the first time you lit it this season, that is the chimney telling you something before the cold really sets in.

Questions people ask

The smoke cleared after a few minutes. Is it still a problem?: Yes. Smoke entering the room at all means combustion gases entered the room, and carbon monoxide travels with them. Stop using the fireplace and get the flue swept and camera-inspected before you light another fire.
Could it just be a cold chimney?: A cold flue does draw badly until it warms up, and that is a real cause. But it is only one of several, and you cannot tell it apart from a blockage or a failing damper by looking up the firebox. An inspection separates the two.
Why does this happen so often in older Hempstead homes?: Much of Hempstead's housing predates 1960, and masonry chimneys serving older fireplaces and boilers are widespread here. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles and year-round coastal moisture wear on crowns, mortar and caps, and a flue that has absorbed moisture tends to draw poorly.
Do I need a permit for this work in Hempstead?: In New York, permits are issued locally by the municipal or county building department, not by a state agency. Routine sweeping and inspection generally do not require one, but relining a flue as part of an appliance installation or rebuilding masonry above the roofline usually does. Call your local building department before work begins.
Is a chimney sweep licensed in New York?: New York does not issue a statewide license for chimney sweeping, inspection or masonry repair; it is handled locally. Nassau County runs its own home improvement contractor licensing program, so check current requirements with the county consumer affairs or licensing office before work starts.
What is One Call Chimney, exactly?: We are a referral and scheduling service that arranges chimney work with independent sweeps and masons across all fifty states, including Hempstead. We are not the contractor and we do not perform the work ourselves. The technician inspects your chimney and gives you the price before anything begins.

One call

Call (866) 576-7943 and we will arrange for a sweep to come out to your Hempstead home, inspect the chimney and give you a free estimate. Nothing gets done until you have seen the price and approved it.

Call now · (866) 576-7943

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